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For the longest time I was unable to find paneer and I had bookmarked a few recipes that I wanted to try that called for it. Though I recently found a source for paneer it was pretty far out of the way and I never seemed to have the time to head out and get some. Since I had come across several recipes for making paneer at home that sounded pretty easy I decided to try making some of my own. Making my own cheese had interested me for a while and I finally resolved to try it.

Paneer is dead simple to make! You just bring some whole milk to a boil, mix in an acid such as lemon juice and let the milk curdle. After it has curdled you drain the liquid, form the curds into a block in some cheese cloth or muslin and let it sit with a heavy weight on it for a few hours. At this point you have a brick of fresh paneer cheese just begging to be used!

Since you did not add anything to the cheese other than just enough acid to cause it to curdle, the paneer is pretty flavourless. This is normal and since paneer really absorbs the flavours of the dish that it is in, it will soon be nice and tasty in addition to having a great texture. I saw several posts where the authors suggested adding fresh herbs or other flavourings to the curds before forming them into a brick and weighing them down. Next I will have to try my hand at some flavoured paneers!

Since it was so easy and fun to make the paneer I will also have to look into making other cheeses at home.

Perfect paneer Kevin.Well done. I often make paneer at home, but get lazy because it's so readily available around every corner here. Yes, you can flavour it with herbs, or now even with spices, which they call 'masala paneer'. I'm on a soft cheese making spree too. Done mascarpone & ricotta! Nothing like fresh homemade cheese!!

Kevin - everytime I want to try something, you try it first! This is great, because I use you as my learning curve! Except, most of the time (like the Thai curry paste), I never end up trying it anyway.

Thanks for sharing your cheese-making. I find it interesting how so many of the cheeses are made with the same ingredients. I've now made mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone, and chevre. I'm getting ready to make feta. I haven't tried paneer yet, so I'll have to do that. I think I've had it before, but a long time ago.

Yay! I knew it was easy to make paneer but didn't realize how easy until your post! I made some last night and it's YUMM! I added 2 cloves of garlic and 1 Thai chili to the milk while it was cooking. You can't really taste the chili but it has a nice garlic-y flavor.

Now I'm trying to find uses for the leftover whey... maybe your next post??

I make my paneer at home.. well most of the times.. they turn out much softer than the store bought frozen ones.. i read in a blog that if a spoon of cornstarch is added, it prevents the paneer from crumbling.. I am yet to try that!

Kevin, your blog is so awesome. I just discovered it recently and I'm in love. Thanks for the delicious paneer recipe.I've searched high and low in Toronto for paneer to no avail. My favourite Indian recipe is muttar paneer and this brings me so much closer to it. Delicious!

jenncuisine: From what I understand you would let the curds sit in their liquid after forming for 24 hours at room temperature and then cook them some more to make ricotta. Ricotta is on my list of cheeses to try making as well.

hooray! I remember the thrill I got when I made a batch of paneer "look - I can make cheese!" - I just learnt that you you can flavor the milk as well, e.g. cardamom, or black pepper, or chilli - to flavor the paneer....

It's funny that people keep mentioning ricotta on this post, because a quick "cheat" way to make paneer is to spread some ricotta in a baking pan and bake it until dry. Cut it up and you have paneer =)Of course, the fresh one is better, but if you don't have any milk or something like this, it's a nice alternative to have =)

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About Me

I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.